Nottingham Express Transit (MET) has named a tram ‘Mary Earps’ in honour of the locally-born England footballer.

Mary Earps unveiled her namesake tram at a ceremony at the NET depot close to the Wilkinson Street tram stop, at which she was joined by junior players from her grassroots team, the West Bridgford Colts. Mary, who plays her club football in goal for Manchester United, was born in West Bridgford and started playing for the West Bridgford Colts when she was ten years old.

NET sees the naming of a tram as “a token of the highest praise from the city”, and believes that Mary earned the honour with her stand-out performances in the Lionesses’ UEFA Women’s Euro 2022 win and second place at this year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup, which also earned her a nomination for BBC Sport Personality of the Year.

Other Nottinghamians to have trams named after them include actor Vicky McClure, cricketer Stuart Broad, ice skaters Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean and author DH Lawrence.

Mary Earps said, “I can’t quite believe it. It’s not every day you get a tram named after you and it’s lovely to be back home in Nottingham to unveil it. It’s also great to meet some of the up-and-coming young West Bridgford Colts players which is where it all began for me. I’ll be sure to take a trip back to Nottingham soon and hopefully when I come back, I’ll be able to hop around on my own tram.”

Alison Sweeney, head of marketing at NET said: “Naming our trams after local heroes and notable people, such as Mary, serves as a great way to honour the successes of those from our city who are flying the flag for excellence. In Mary’s case, her significant contribution to football, especially in the women’s game, is certainly something to be celebrated, and following calls from many locals to rename a tram in her honour, we thought it was a fantastic idea.

“The trams are an integral part of Nottingham life and the renaming of our trams is really important to us and the wider city. Over the years, we’ve honoured a range of noteworthy people who hail from our great city, including sportspeople, writers and advocates, many of which, like Mary, have been suggestions by locals.

“We recognise the need for the community to continue to get to have their say in what the trams will be named. As such, to ensure our trams remain representative of all the local heroes in the area, we’re currently reviewing our tram renaming process and will reveal more information about our plans over the coming months.”